Thanksgiving weekend is Rivalry Week in college football, but the first weekend in October -- the midway point of the regular season -- is Mini-Rivalry week. You know the Red River Shootout is going down in Dallas, but there's also Florida State-Miami, where FSU is looking to earn the first signature win of the Willie Taggart era while Miami looks to beat the 'Noles in back-to-back years for the first time since taking six straight from 2000-04.
Navy heads to Colorado Springs to play the first round of the Commander-in-Chief series. The Middies have won 11 of the last 15 in this series, but Air Force has taken the last two and three of the last four on its home turf.
Boise State and San Diego State aren't rivals -- they've played only five times total -- but these schools have taken the last four Mountain West championships. (Though, oddly, they've never won their respective divisions in the same season.)
Minnesota hosts Iowa in the Floyd of Rosedale game. As we laid out yesterday, Iowa has owned this series from a generation. Is this the year Minnesota turns the tables?
LSU and Florida aren't traditional rivals, but they've played nearly every year since 1953. This game usually decides which team contends in their respective divisions, and this year it'll decide who's serious about chasing Alabama and Georgia, respectively.
And then in College Station there's a game that is definitely not a rivalry -- they've played twice, ever, in 1952 and '53 -- but it's a huge game for both Kentucky and Texas A&M. After huge wins over Florida, Mississippi State and South Carolina, Kentucky plays its biggest test before Georgia comes to town on Nov. 3. And after respectable losses to Clemson and Alabama and wins over three lightweights, we'll find out how good Texas A&M really is as the Aggies play the first opponent in their weight class this season.
Let's do it.